Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak is award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She writes in both Turkish and English and has published eighteen books, eleven of which are novels. Her work has been translated into 54 languages. Her latest novel, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize; and was Blackwell’s Book of the Year. Her previous novel, The Forty Rules of Love was listed by the BBC as being among the 100 Novels that Shaped Our World. Shafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK, including St. Anne’s College, Oxford, where she is an honorary fellow. She is a member of WEForum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy and a founding member of ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations). An advocate for women’s rights, LGBT rights and freedom of speech, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice TED Global speaker.

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Jacinda Ardern is the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Elected prime minister at just 37 years of age, Jacinda is the world’s youngest woman Head of Government, and only the second to become a mother while in office (after Benazir Bhutto). Her leadership style is one of empathy in a crisis that tempts people to fend for themselves.